Swimming aid



Dec. 13, 1966 MONTGOMERY 3,290,707

SWIMMING AID 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 16, 1965 INVENTOR. Mqxs'am H. Mo/vrqo/mmy Dec. 13, 1966 M. H. MONTGOMERY 3,290,707

SWIMMING AID Filed April 16, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet z FIG.9

INVENTOR. MAX-S'O/V Al. MONTGOMA'QY United States Patent 3,290,707 SWIMMING AID Maxson I-I. Montgomery, 265 Attica Drive, Long Beach, Calif. Filed Apr. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 448,586

6 Claims. (Cl. 9-307) The present invention relates generally to the art of swimming and more particularly to a new and novel swimming aid.

There have been heretofore proposed swim fins attachable to a swimmers feet so as to provide added water propulsion for a swimmer. It is a major object of the present invention to provide a device that is attachable adjacent a swimmers forearm so as to provide added water propulsion for the swimmer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimming aid of the aforedescribed nature having plate means attached adjacent a swimmers wrist by resilient band means that encircle the swimmers forearm or forearm and hand, such band means constantly biasing the plate means rearwardly into a feathered position relative to the swimmers arm, with such plate means being movable towards the front of the swimmers arm into an extended position as the swimmers arm undergoes a rearward swimming stroke.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a swimming aid of the aforedescribed nature wherein the plate means takes the form of a pair of rearwa-rdly. extending plates secured adjacent a swimmers forearm by resilient rubber-like bands, such plates feathering rearwardly to abut either side of the swimmers forearm.

Yet an additional object of the present invention is to provide a swimmers aid of the a'foredescribed nature wherein the resilient band means are provided with adjustment means that may be used to concurrently adjust the length and the tension of the band means, with such tension control permitting the operation of the plates to be coordinated with the strength of a swimmer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimmers aid of-the a foredescribed nature that is simple of construction and economical of manufacture.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a swimmers aid of the aforedescribed nature that is compact in size and light in weight whereby it will not impede the activities of a swimmer, particularly when such swimmer is engaged in skin diving.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a. swimmers aid of the aforedescribed nature that is particularly useful for swimmers engaged in surfboarding.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a swimmer provided with a pair of swimming aids embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in enlarged scale along line 22 of FIGURE 1 and showing a swimming aid embodying the present invention with the parts thereof disposed in an extended position;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 2,

position;

3,290,707 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 "ice FIGURE 4 is a further enlarged top plan view of a first form of swimming aid embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view in further enlarged scale of the swimming aid shown in FIGURE 4 taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a broken top plan view showing a second form of swimming aid embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a bottom view showing the a-foredescribed swimming aid secured to the hand and lower forearm of a swimmer engaged in surfboard-mg;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view showing a swimmer engaged in surfboarding with a pair of swimming aids of the type shown in FIGURES 1-7;

FIGURE 9 is a top plan view of a third form of swimming aid embodying the present invention;

' FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a fourth form of swimming aid embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 11 is a vertical sectional view taken in enlarged scale along line 11-11 of FIGURE 10; and

FIGURE 12 is a vertical sectional view showing the form of the invention of FIGURE 10 secured to a swimmers forearm in operative position.

Refer-ring to the drawings and particularly FIGURE 1 thereof, there is shown a swimmer S provided with a pair of swimming aids A1 and A-2 embodying the present invention. The swimming aids A-1 and A-2 are shown secured to each forearm of the swimmer S adjacent the wrist portion thereof.

The swimming aids A-1 and A-2 are of like construction and as indicated in FIGURES 2 through 5, include a pair of plates, generally designated 10 and 12, which are mirror images of one another and are arranged side-byside. Preferably, the plates 10 and 12 are formed of a material such as a synthetic plastic. The plates 10 and 12 are secured to the upper front portion of a swimmers forearm 14 by means of a pair of like front and rear straps 16 and 18, respectively. The straps 16 and 18 are formed of a resilient material such as natural or synthetic rubber. Each strap includes suitable releasable fastening means for securing its opposite ends together. Such fastening means may take the form of a prong 22 mounted at one end of the strap and selectively insertable within one of a plurality of apertures 24, 25, 26 formed in the opposite end portion of the strap. The intermediate portion of the front strap 16 extends through two pairs of aligned, like slots 26 and 28 formed at the front portion of the plate 10 and 12, while the rear strap 18 is threaded through two similar pairs of aligned slots 30 and 32 formed at the rear portion of the plates 10 and 12.

The length of the slot pairs 26, 28 and 30, 32 should preferably be less than the Width of the straps 16 and 18. With this arrangement, movement of plates 10 and 12 along the longitudinal axes of the straps 16 and 18 will be frictionally restrained. This permits the position of the plates relative to the straps to be easily adjusted.

In the operation of the aforedescribed swimming aids A-1 and A2, the front and rear straps 16 and 18 will be extended around the swimmers forearms adjacent his wrists. The prongs 22 of each strap will then be inserted through the proper apertures 24, 25, 26 to obtain the correct length and tension of the bands relative to the swimmers forearm. It will be apparent that the tighter the straps 16 and 18 the greater the resistance of the plates 10 and 12 against movement towards their extended position shown in FIGURES 2 and 5. Likewise, the farther each plate is positioned outwardly from the center of the swimmers forearm 14, the greater the tension applied by the bands tending to resist movement of the plates toward their extended position. The adjustment of the strap tension permits the operation of the plates to be coordinated with the strength of a swimmer. Thus, a strong swimmer will desire that the tension of the straps be higher than is the case with a weaker swimmer. The spacing between the contiguous edges 40 of the plates 10 and 12 may be adjusted by sliding such plates along the length of the straps 16 and 18. In general, the wider the swimmers forearm the greater the distance required between the contiguous edges 40 of the two plates.

Referring to FIGURE 1 as the swimmers right arm moves forward, the plates 10 and 12 will be urged towards their feathered position shown in FIGURE 3 by the straps 16 and 18 as well as by the resistance of the water to forward movement of the plates. At the same time the swimmers left arm is moving rearwardly, with such rearward movement causing the plates 10 and 12 to pivot into their extended position shown in FIGURES 2 and 5. In this extended position the area of the rear surfaces of the plates is added to the rearwardly-facing area of the swimmers left forearm and left hand so as to thereby provide added water propulsion.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, there is shown a second form of swimming aid A embodying the present invention. This second form of the invention is identical to the form shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 with the exception that one of the plates 12' is of larger area than the other plate The larger plate 12' is adapted to be disposed-alongside the outer forearm of the swimmer. It will be apparent that the plate disposed on the swimmers outer forearm may be of larger area than the plate disposed at the swimmers inner forearm since the swimmer need not be concerned with such larger plate contacting his body during a swimming stroke.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 and 8, both forms of the aforedescribed swimming aids A and A are particularly useful for swimmers engaged in surfboarding. When a swimmer S is propelling his surfboard B forwardly, as indicated in FIGURE 8, he prefers not to submerge his entire forearm. Instead, such a swimmer normally submerges only his hand and lower forearm. It is therefore desirable to arrange the bands 16 and 18 in the manner shown particularly in FIGURE 7, i.e., the front band 16 will be extended across the swimmers palm while the rear band 18 will be extended around the swimmers wrist.

Referring now to FIGURE 9, there is shown a third form of swimming aid A" embodying the present invention. The third form of the invention is similar to the first and second forms described hereinbefore with the exception that in place of a pair of the separate bands 16 and 18, such third form incorporates a single resilient band member, generally designated 46, having a main body section 48 formed with a pair of integral strap elements 50 and 52. The plates 54 and 56 are each formed with a pair of like, aligned, elongated slots 58 and 60, respectively, that receive the intermediate portion of the main strap body 48. It should be observed that the front and rear portions of the contiguous edges of the plates 54 and 56 are cut out as indicated at 62 so as to increase the clearance between the plates and the swimmers forearm. The main body 48 of the strap 46 is provided with a pair of prongs 64 selectively engageable with apertures 66 formed in the band elements 50 and 52.

Referring to FIGURES 10, 11 and 12, there is shown a fourth form of swimming aid A' embodying the prescut invention. The fourth form of the invention is identical to the form shown in FIG. 9 with the exception that a fiat pad is secured to the upper portion of the strap body 48 between the contiguous edges 72 of the plates 54 and 56. As indicated particularly in FIGURE 11, the pad 70 may take the form of a metallic plate having its front and rear ends doubled-over the front and rear edges of the strap body 48, as indicated at 74 and 76. The pad 70 functions to limit the rearward pivotal movement of the plates 54 and 56, as indicated particularly in FIGURE 12. The pad also distributes the pressure applied by the plates 54 and 56 to the users forearm over a larger area than solely the area along the contiguous edges 72 of these plates.

The aforedescribed swimming aids have proven useful in shortening the training period of competition swimmers since the use of such aids increases the amount of force required of the swimmers arm muscles. Hence, these muscles undergo rapid development. Such development is selective with respect to those muscles actually necessary to effect a desired swimming stroke. The use of these swimming aids will serve to increase the upper body strength of a swimmer and also to increase his endurance. The swimmer can swim greater distances with fewer strokes and can move faster through the water.

It will also be apparent that the aforedescribed swimming aids will find particular use by skindivers since they provide increased water propulsion with but slightly increased effort. Moreover, such swmming aids will not interefere with the activities of a skindiver. When these swimming aids are used by swimmers engaged in surfboarding, they will permit the swimmer to catch more waves and shorten the time between rides since the swimmer can propel his surfboard at higher speeds than is possible where the swimming aids are not utilized.

The swimming aids of the present invention may be manufactured in various sizes including smaller sizes useable by children. The plate elements may be formed in various shapes and contours to best suit particular swimming conditions. Various other changes and modifications may be made with respect to the foregoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of the present invention or the scope of the following claims.

It should be noted that in the following claims the term swimmers forearm applies not only to the portion of the swimmers forearm adjacent the swimmers wrist, but also the swimmers hand.

I claim:

1. A swimming aid for attachment to a swimmers arm, comprising:

a pair of plates arranged side-by-side;

resilient band means that encircle a swimmers arm with the top of said band means being disposed at the front of said arm;

and attachment means securing said plates to the top portion of said band means, the resilient nature of said band means constantly biasing said plates toward the rear of said arm, said plates being movable toward the front of said arm as said arm undergoes a swimming stroke.

2. A swimming aid as set forth in claim 1 wherein said attachment means includes:

a pair of aligned slots formed in said plate means through which said band means are threaded, the length of said slots being less than the width of said band means whereby longitudinal movement of said band means relative to said plate means is frictionally restrained.

3. A swimming aid as set forth in claim 1 wherein said band means is provided with means for concurrently adjusting the length and tension of said band means.

4. A swimming aid as set forth in claim 2 wherein said band means is provided with means for concurrently adjusting the length and tension of said band means.

5 6 5. A swimming aid for attachment to a swimmers 6. A swimming aid as set forth in claim 5 wherein arm, comprising: said band has means for adjusting its length and tension.

a pair of plates arranged side-by-side; a resilient band that encircles a swimmers arm with References Cited y the Examine! the top of said band being disposed at the front of 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Sald arm; 3,097,375 7/1963 Griflith 9-407 a pad affixed to said band between said plates; and attachment means securing said plates to the top FOREIGN PATENTS portion of said band, the resilient nature of said 1,227,704 3/1960 France.

band constantly biasing said plates toward the rear 10 931,529 1963 r at Britainof said arm, said plates being movable toward the I front of said arm as said arm undergoes a swimming FERGUS MIDDLETON 'mary Examme stroke. P. E. SAUBERER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SWIMMING AID FOR ATTACHMENT TO A SWIMMER''S ARM, COMPRISING: A PAIR OF PLATES ARRANGED SIDE-BY-SIDE; RESILIENT BAND MEANS THAT ENCIRCLE A SWIMMER''S ARM WITH THE TOP OF SAID BAND MEANS BEING DISPOSED AT THE FRONT OF SAID ARM; AND ATTACHMENT MEANS SECURING SAID PLATES TO THE TOP PORTION OF SAID BAND MEANS, THE RESILIENT NATURE OF SAID BAND MEANS CONSTANTLY BIASING SAID PLATES TOWARD THE REAR OF SAID ARM, SAID PLATES BEING MOVABLE TOWARD THE FRONT OF SAID ARM AS SAID ARM UNDERGOES A SWIMMING STROKE. 